Increasing demands for better fuel economy have lead to improvements and developments in hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and vehicles powered by fuel cells or diesel fuel. Efforts on the part of the automotive industry to increase fuel economy have included reductions in mass, improved aerodynamics, active fuel management, and hybrid engines. Still, other mechanisms, techniques, and energy sources that will improve fuel economy are continually being sought.
It is generally known that vehicles are subjected to vibrations, especially while being driven. Conventionally, these vibrations have been considered undesirable. In fact, a great deal of effort has gone into the development of suspension systems that include springs, damper assemblies, and the like, that provide vehicular stability and insulate the passenger compartment from vibration caused by, for example, driving on bumpy or otherwise tortuous roadways. Currently, the energy associated with these vibrations is lost. However, harvesting and utilizing this energy would provide an additional source of energy that could be used to increase fuel economy, for example, by producing an additional source of useable energy for the vehicle. The ability to tap this additional source of energy while not compromising the benefits of modern vehicular suspension systems would benefit both the automotive industry and their customers.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a systems for harvesting the energy associated with vehicle vibrations to produce useable power as well as systems that are configured to make use of this power. Furthermore, other desirable benefits, features, and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary, detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.